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Text Messaging Steers Teens Into Trouble

More than a quarter admit to texting while driving

By Wesley Oliver,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 18, 2007 4:47 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Text messaging is growing into a serious hazard for young people, ABC reports. A new study showed that teens are texting at rates that border on addiction—some sending thousands of messages a month. Most alarmingly, however, a full 28% of teens admitted to texting while driving, a dangerous practice that distracts inexperienced motorists.

Five 17- and 18-year-old girls were killed in a crash in upstate New York last month that police say may have been caused by texting from behind the wheel. Lawmakers are starting to take action: Washington State has passed the first law banning texting from the road and New Jersey is expected to follow.

Supporters try to take photos with their cell phone cameras as Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani answers questions from the media Tuesday, July 17, 2007, in Hialeah, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Supporters try to take photos with their cell phone cameras as Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani answers questions from the media Tuesday, July 17, 2007, in Hialeah, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo...   (Associated Press)
Two teens engage in close-proximity text messaging.
Two teens engage in close-proximity text messaging.   (Index Open)
Mobile phone keypad, close-up. Text messaging while driving may become a high-profile safety concern.
Mobile phone keypad, close-up. Text messaging while driving may become a high-profile safety concern.   (Shutterstock.com)
Teens in Western Europe choose text messages over phone calls when asking for a date or responding to a suitor. I prefer text, generally, says Kayleigh Roberts, 15, of Witchford, England.
Teens in Western Europe choose text messages over phone calls when asking for a date or responding to a suitor. "I prefer text, generally," says Kayleigh Roberts, 15, of Witchford, England.   (KRT Photos)
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Two thirds of teens admit to risky driving habits
Market Wire

VA adds calling while driving ban
Roanoke Times

Can you bill me now? Teens rack up phone charges
AAP General News (Aust.)

 
Internet • cell phones • New Jersey • mental health • LG West Coast Texting Championship • American Automobile Association • Seventeen magazine • Pew Internet and American Life Project • text messaging addiction • cybersex • The Priory Group • Washington state • texting • teenager • video games

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